


3 Times to Fall in Love

by Blue477865



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-03-02 06:27:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18805576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue477865/pseuds/Blue477865
Summary: It takes 3 times of seeing Hyunjoon for Jaehyun to fall in love with him.It takes much longer for him to admit it.(I swear it's better than that I just can't write summaries for shit)(also I'll probably change the title at some point cause the title is also shit cause I also can't make titles for shit)





	3 Times to Fall in Love

“Where are we going?”, Jaehyun whined to his roommate as they walked down the barely lit street at 7 in the morning. “We’re going to meet up with the others and Changmin’s cousins,” Younghoon answered. Jaehyun grumbled, “At seven in the God damn morning? Really?” Younghoon shrugged, “Changmin said they’re really busy, and he wanted us to meet them now in case we don’t have any time before we head back to Seoul.” Jaehyun groaned loudly. “We still have three weeks, there’s no way this would be the  _ only _ time they’re free for the entire rest of our trip."

The roommates were currently on vacation with their friends in America for the summer, and they had promised Changmin they would meet his cousins, whom he apparently really wanted them to meet, for some reason or another. So, this morning, at some ungodly hour, Jacob had called Younghoon and Jaehyun out of the peaceful condo they’d rented out for the summer to tell them that the group was to meet up with Changmin’s cousins at 11 to have brunch. Now, why, you ask, were they up at 7 if they weren’t meeting up until 11? Well, Changmin had insisted that they had to go to the local market  _ very early _ to pick up food for the barbecue they planned to have that night, and apparently, if you didn’t go early, the market would be far too crowded to find everything they would need. Though Jaehyun had absolutely no idea why all of them needed to go. He figured it was one of Jacob’s passive aggressive ways of trying to make them all get off their lazy asses and enjoy their vacation. The older boy had already forced them to get up at 8 to go to the beach last week, which only ended in all of them except Jacob falling asleep and getting sunburned.

After walking another few blocks, they met up with Chanhee and Changmin, who were rooming together in a condo several blocks away from Jaehyun and Younghoon. They were quickly joined by Jacob, Eric, and a nearly fast asleep, very tired, very out of it Sunwoo. The others all had condos near each other, but for some reason Changmin’s parents, who paid for their vacation, had rented three condos right by each other and one four blocks away, which Jaehyun and Younghoon were unfortunate enough to be stuck with. After buying everything they needed and taking it back to Jacob’s condo, they got into the eldest’s car and drove to a nice little restaurant, which according to Changmin, was his cousins’ favorite restaurant, and where they would be meeting the two for brunch. Jaehyun was still pretty tired (though not as tired as poor Sunwoo, who fell asleep twice in the short drive there, and almost fell asleep again at their table waiting for Changmin’s cousins).

Finally, Changmin brightened and jumped up to greet two boys walking into the restaurant. Jacob rose and calmly followed after the excited boy to greet his family and Eric and Chanhee were quick to follow, like young children with their mother. Younghoon nudged Jaehyun, who had his head in his arms on the table. “Come on Jaehyun, Changmin’s cousins are here.” Jaehyun groaned, refusing to move. Across the table, Sunwoo had one hundred percent fallen asleep, as the poor boy’s light snores could be heard from where Jaehyun sat. Younghoon forced him to raise his head when the others sat down, while Chanhee nudged a very tired and confused Sunwoo awake. “Guys, these are my cousins, Kevin hyung and Hyunjoon,” Changmin introduced the two, who waved happily at the group, seemingly wide awake. Jacob smiled at them. “My name is Jacob, the one next to Changmin is Chanhee, this is Eric, that’s Younghoon, the blond one is Jaehyun, and the confused dead looking one is Sunwoo,” he listed off, all of them waving tiredly when they were introduced.

Changmin pouted at their lack of energy. “Come on guys, it's not that early, have some energy!” he whined. Younghoon immediately straightened up and smiled, looking ten times friendlier. “Whipped,” Jaehyun muttered tiredly, feeling too out of it to be bothered by the punch and glare he received from the older. Jaehyun mustered up enough energy to actually take in the two new people. He easily noticed that they looked quite similar, though they did have a few differences. The first, who sat next to Jacob, Kevin, Changmin had called him, was talking animatedly with Changmin, while the other, Hyunjoon, simply sat quietly next to his older brother and listened to the two catch up after not seeing each other for over a year. Jaehyun took in the quiet boy’s cute features, and decided that younger was quite adorable.

After lunch, Jacob invited the pair to the barbecue they planned to have that evening at Jacob’s condo. The two exchanged a glance. “Can we bring a few friends?” Kevin asked, and then smiled brightly when Jacob gladly agreed. The group said their goodbyes to the pair and drove back to where they were staying. Jacob first stopped at Younghoon and Jaehyun’s condo. Jaehyun tiredly stumbled into his room for a nap, which Jacob had allowed him so that he would be fully rested for later that night. Behind him, Younghoon dropped a sleeping Sunwoo onto his own bed. “I’m going back with them to Jacob Hyung’s condo, when you guys wake up just head over there.” Jaehyun nodded tiredly to his friend before collapsing into his bed, falling asleep almost as soon as he closed his eyes.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Jaehyun was woken by Sunwoo, the younger saying that it was 4:30 and that they had to go to Jacob’s condo so that they would be there before Kevin and Hyunjoon arrived with their friends. The two were now fully rested and walking to their friend’s condo now. “I wish I wasn’t so tired earlier, then I might’ve gotten to know them better,” Sunwoo complained. Jaehyun chuckled. “It’s fine, we’ll see them in a little while. At least we’re actually awake now.” Sunwoo nodded in agreement. When they arrived at Jacob’s condo, they were greeted by the amazing smell of Jacob grilling food. Chanhee waved to them while Changmin and Younghoon walked by carrying plates for food. “Where’s Eric?” Jaehyun asked as they joined Chanhee on the couch. “When we got here, he fell asleep in Jacob Hyung’s room. Younghoon Hyung said not to wake him up until you guys got here.” Sunwoo clapped his hands. “Well, let’s go wake him up then.” Jaehyun followed the two into Jacob’s room, where Eric was peacefully sleeping.

The trio cooed at the youngest’s adorable sleeping form, before Chanhee gently shook him. And when that didn’t work, Sunwoo not-so-gently, aka, violently shook the poor boy awake. “Ya,” Sunwoo yelled, “Wake up!” Eric grumbled. Sunwoo clapped in victory and bounced out of the room at full energy. Jaehyun was amazed that just a few hours of sleep had drastically changed the younger boy’s energy level, but then again, you had to expect the unexpected when it came to Sunwoo.  Jaehyun turned back to the bed, where Chanhee was helping a sleepy Eric up, when the sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the house, followed by Changmin’s loud shout of “They’re here!” and loud footsteps from the back door to the front. The three walked into the living room to see Hyunjoon and Kevin again, this time with two other boys, both looking older. Changmin was talking excitedly with Kevin, Younghoon standing just behind them, while Sunwoo and Jacob said hello to the two new boys. Hyunjoon stood awkwardly to the side.

Chanhee went over to say hello to Kevin, while Eric trudged over to meet the new boys. Jaehyun decided to talk to Hyunjoon. When he approached the quiet boy, Hyunjoon looked at him with wide eyes. Jaehyun smiled. “Hello.” Hyunjoon hesitated for a moment before smiling back. “Hello,” he said quietly. Jaehyun realized this was the first time he heard the younger’s voice, but he thought it was very cute, just like the boy’s shyness and cute features. He was surprised when the younger spoke again, this time slightly more confidently. “You seem more awake than earlier.” Jaehyun laughed, “Yeah, I took a nap. I guess it was too early.” Hyunjoon nodded and smiled again, but before either could say anything else, their small conversation was cut off by Jacob. “Come on outside to the back, the food is ready.”

They all went out and sat down at the table that Changmin and Younghoon had set and they gladly dug into the delicious food that Jacob had made. They all introduced themselves to Kevin and Hyunjoon’s two friends, Sangyeon and Juyeon. After dinner, the large group of friends decided to head down to the beach. Once on the beach, most of the boys bounded into the water, not a single one of them bothering to take off their clothes. Jaehyun sighed, the cool water a nice contrast to the hot air. He laughed loudly when Eric dumped a large bucket of water onto Sunwoo’s head from behind, presumably for revenge of waking him up earlier. Sunwoo in turn splashed water onto a relatively dry Chanhee, who then turned on Sunwoo and loudly declared, “Oh, you’re on!” This led to a full on water fight. 

Jaehyun laughed when Sunwoo glared at him after he also dumped a bucket of water on the younger’s head. He looked around at the oddly large group. Eric was splashing through the water to get away from Younghoon after dumping water on the confused boy’s head. Chanhee, Changmin, and Juyeon had ganged up to drag Kevin off his dry spot on the sand and into the water. The boy yelped in surprise when he was not-so-gently dropped into the cold water. Sunwoo was sneaking up behind Jacob and Sangyeon where the two were sitting on the sand, fully dry, and seemingly too deep in conversation to notice the boy coming up behind them with a bucket of water.  Jaehyun looked around more, and then sighed upon seeing Hyunjoon sitting by himself on the sand, some way away from the rest of the group. The quiet boy was watching his brother chase through the water after the three who dunked him, and didn’t seem to notice Jaehyun walking up to him. He jumped in surprise at Jaehyun’s voice, “Don’t you want to come in the water?”

The young boy looked away and shook his head. Jaehyun sighed and sat down next to him. The younger looked at him incredulously. “How come?” Jaehyun asked. Hyunjoon looked down. “I just don’t really want to,” he answered quietly. Jaehyun decided not to push it further and instead asked the boy what he liked to do around there. The younger thought for a moment. “I guess there’s this amusement park nearby that’s really fun. I like going there with Kevin Hyung and Changmin Hyung,” the boy finally answered. The two went on a long conversation and Jaehyun was happy that the younger boy seemed to be opening up to him. Eventually, the others got out of the water shivering like crazy. Jacob shook his head at them and gave them towels, scolding them and telling them to get dry before they got sick. They all headed back to Jacob’s condo, where Sangyeon and Juyeon left, waving and promising they would try to meet up again. Sunwoo and Eric left to go to their own condo to shower and warm up. Chanhee left a while later, telling Changmin that he was going to shower and go to bed so that he would be well rested for the morning, when they planned to go see a movie at the local theater. Changmin waved goodbye to his cousins when they left.

Jaehyun, Younghoon, and Changmin stuck around for a while, before Jacob shooed them home, insisting they rest up for the morning. Jaehyun refrained from gagging at Younghoon and Changmin when the two kissed as they parted at Changmin’s door. Jaehyun glared at his roommate as they walked back to their condo. “You’re disgusting.” Younghoon raised an eyebrow, “Jaehyun, it’s called being in a relationship, which you wouldn’t know about, because nobody wants to date you.” Jaehyun gasped and faked being hurt. “How dare you?  _ Everyone _ wants to date me. You’re lucky that you managed to find someone that fell in love with you instead of me,” he punched his roommate, who rolled his eyes and chose to ignore his best friend’s statement, and they walked the rest of the way in silence.

  
  


* * *

  
  


The roommates met up with the others again the following morning and Jacob drove them all to the theater, following Changmin’s directions. After the movie, they went out to get lunch. Jaehyun sighed as Sunwoo once again whined at the menu. “What should I get? Everything looks so good!” Jaehyun felt bad for the poor boy taking their orders. Jacob glared at Sunwoo. “Just get something, we don’t want to be here all day,” he hissed. The young boy grumbled. “Fine, I’ll get the special.” The waiter nodded in relief and ran back to the kitchen. “Took you long enough,” Chanhee muttered, “you’re so indecisive, it gives me a headache.” Sunwoo stuck his tongue out at Chanhee. “That’s enough,” Jacob growled, effectively stopping Chanhee from retaliating. Lunch proceeded as usual, with the friends arguing and annoying each other and Jacob barely being able to stop them from having a food fight in the middle of the restaurant. “I swear,” the eldest muttered, “it’s like trying to take care of a bunch of little kids.”

After lunch, they all went their separate ways. Changmin and Younghoon decided to go on a walk on the beach. Jacob declared that he wanted some alone time and shooed them all out of his house. Eric and Sunwoo returned to their own condo to have a movie marathon. Chanhee and Jaehyun looked at each other and shrugged, opting to go window shopping to see what souvenirs they could find. They walked around some shops for a while, trying to decide which one they should enter first, when a voice called out to them. They both turned around to see Kevin running up to them, a curious Hyunjoon trailing quite a ways behind his brother. “Hi guys,” Kevin greeted, somehow not out of breath, “what are you guys doing here?” Chanhee and Jaehyun greeted the boy, as well as Hyunjoon, who had finally caught up and was currently standing next to his brother, quiet as ever.

“Well,” Chanhee said, “we went to see a movie and have lunch with the others this morning, but they all went to do their own things, so we decided to do some window shopping. What are you guys up to?” “We were looking for something to get Sangyeon Hyung for Father’s Day,” Kevin answered. Jaehyun blinked. “What? Did I miss something?” Kevin laughed. “Oh, it’s this thing we do every year. See, Sangyeon Hyung likes to insist that he’s our father, so every year for Father’s Day we find the most dad kind of thing possible and give it to him as a gift. Last year we got him a tool kit, which he has absolutely no idea how to use.” Chanhee and Jaehyun nodded in understanding. “You could join us if you want,” Kevin offered. The two boys agreed, having nothing better to do. The four walked around for a while, looking for something to get for Sangyeon. Kevin and Chanhee were currently in an arguement about whether a mini toy grill was good enough or not when Hyunjoon tugged on Jaehyun’s sleeve to get his attention.

Jaehyun turned to where the younger boy was pointing and grinned, turning back to the other two. “Guys,” he called, getting their attention, “I think Hyunjoon found the perfect gift.” They all went over to it. Kevin smirked. “It’s perfect! Good job Hyunjoon,” he praised his brother, who nodded. They bought the gift and walked out, deciding to stick together and look around some more. By the time the checked the time, it was around 6:15. They decided to get dinner together at one of the restaurants nearby. While they waited for their food, Jaehyun asked, “Father’s Day is tomorrow right?” Kevin nodded. “Do you guys want to come with us tomorrow morning to give this to Sangyeon Hyung? After all, you did help us pick it.” They both nodded. After dinner, none of them wanted to go home yet, so they headed down to the beach together to watch the sunset, which, as Kevin had told them excitedly, was very beautiful around there.

Chanhee and Kevin bounded ahead, while Jaehyun stayed back with Hyunjoon, who seemed uninterested in the idea of running. They easily struck up a conversation, and just like before, the more they talked, the more Hyunjoon opened up and the more he was willing to speak. The younger seemed skeptical about Jaehyun’s amazing gift of coming up with jokes, so he told one to the boy, effectively causing the younger to laugh hysterically. Jaehyun smiled softly at Hyunjoon, deciding then and there that he wanted to hear the quiet boy’s laughter much more often. They finally arrived at the beach and caught up with the other two. Jaehyun pretended not to miss the surprised but happy look Kevin gave his brother upon seeing the younger still laughing at another of Jaehyun’s (terrible mind you) jokes. Chanhee looked surprised to see the quiet boy laughing, as he had most likely never even heard Hyunjoon speak, let alone laugh.

The four wandered down the sand to a stop some way away from the water to make sure that their clothes wouldn’t get wet this time. They all sat on the dry sand and watched in peaceful silence as the sunset over the water. Jaehyun was fully prepared to say it was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. After a while, Chanhee bade them goodbye and returned to his condo, promising that he and Changmin would meet them the following morning. Not long after, Kevin decided to go home, forcing Jaehyun to promise he would make sure Hyunjoon returned home safely. After that, it was just Jaehyun and Hyunjoon laying together in the sand, watching as the sky slowly turned darker and darker, the beautiful pinks and purples and oranges of the sunset slowly disappearing after the sun. They looked at the stars in comfortable silence, the only sound being the waves washing up and down on the sand.

Jaehyun loved this. It was calm, peaceful, and the sky was beautiful. It was perfect. He was broken out of reverie, however, by the sound of Hyunjoon’s voice, “What’s your favorite star?” Jaehyun turned his head to look at the younger boy laying next to him, only to find the younger already looking at him. He looked back up. “I don’t really have a favorite star. We can’t see the stars from our apartment in Seoul, and we don’t have a lot of opportunities to come out in the open like this and look at them.” Hyunjoon nodded and pointed off to the side. “Do you see that big one over there? The really big bright one?” Jaehyun nodded. Hyunjoon smiled, “That’s my favorite.” Jaehyun smiled back at the younger, his heart bursting at the boy’s adorable little smile. “It’s beautiful.”  _ You’re beautiful _ , his mind said. Hyunjoon turned back to look at the stars, but Jaehyun just kept watching the younger boy. He couldn’t bring himself to look away. Even in the darkness, he could see every detail of Hyunjoon’s face, from his eyes, which practically glowed from the light of the stars, to his nose, to his lips.  _ His lips _ .

Jaehyun sat up so quickly he almost got lightheaded. Hyunjoon sat up as well and looked at him in confusion. “Well,” Jaehyun said, “it’s late, and we have to get up early tomorrow. I think we should head home and get some rest.” He rose and began to walk up the beach, pausing only to make sure the younger boy was following him. They walked in silence to the condo that Hyunjoon shared with his brother, and Jaehyun continued to walk on to his own condo by himself, barely stopping himself from looking back at the place. He walked straight into his own condo, straight past the kitchen, straight past the living room, straight past one bedroom, straight past the very confused Younghoon that resided in said bedroom, straight past the bathroom, straight to the end of the hall, straight into his room, and locking the door behind himself, he fell into his bed, shoes and all, and fell asleep to his own thoughts of  _ what the Hell just happened? _

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hyunjoon was woken up by his brother. Meaning, gently, and not suddenly and painfully, like when Juyeon wakes him up. Yeah, Sangyeon promised Hyunjoon that Juyeon was never allowed to wake him up again. The brothers got dressed and waited for the others to arrive. They’d told Juyeon ahead of time of the others joining them, and he was with them now, trying to convince Kevin to tell him what they got Sangyeon this time. “Come on,” Juyeon complained, “I just want to know, I love being in on surprises!” Kevin shook his head yet again. “Nope, sorry Hyung. You didn’t want to help us pick a gift, so you can wait to see what it is.” Juyeon grumbled and finally gave up.

Pretty soon, the doorbell rang, and Kevin opened the door to Chanhee, Changmin, Younghoon, and Jaehyun. Chanhee explained that Jacob was taking the youngest two to do something, and that they would not be joining them. The large group set off together to Sangyeon’s house. They made sure to go as early as possible to ensure that they would get to Sangyeon’s house while he was still asleep, and they would therefore be able to wake him up and annoy him. They made it their goal every year to come earlier and earlier, so they had left for his house at 7 in the morning, but they’d told him they would be there at noon. Hyunjoon couldn’t wait to surprise Sangyeon with the four extra people. He was currently walking at the back of the group. Kevin was leading with Chanhee walking next to him, and the two were deep in a conversation about what sounded like their favorite fruits. Hyunjoon wondered how his brother could so easily have such a weird conversation with literally anyone, meanwhile Hyunjoon couldn’t even get anyone to say hello to him.

Well, that was before Jaehyun. Hyunjoon genuinely wondered why the older boy had approached him. He’d been standing by himself, just like normal, when Jaehyun had come over to him. That was  _ not _ normal. Hyunjoon had only been more confused when the elder had tried to have a conversation with him on the beach after dinner that day. However, as abnormal as it was, Hyunjoon had already grown used to Jaehyun’s presence and his conversation. That’s why Hyunjoon was so confused. He’d expected Jaehyun to immediately come over and greet him, or at least walk with him on the way. But instead, the elder had stuck at the back of the group by the door, and when they’d set off, he had stayed by Younghoon and Changmin, despite how he’d told Hyunjoon before that he didn’t like how the couple never stopped being all lovey-dovey with each other and had absolutely no care if anyone else wanted to see it.

So Hyunjoon was walking by himself, trailing some way behind Juyeon, who was talking to the couple about who even knows what. Hyunjoon wondered if he did something wrong. He thought back to the previous night on the beach. He’d felt so comfortable around Jaehyun, though he wasn’t sure how, as he wasn’t comfortable around most people. And then Jaehyun had just all of a sudden decided they needed to go, though Hyunjoon wasn’t entirely sure why, as he’d been enjoying himself in the peace and calm. Not to mention the elder hadn’t said one word to Hyunjoon on the walk back to his house. Hyunjoon wondered what he did there that caused Jaehyun to suddenly be distant. Hyunjoon didn’t know what happened, but he did know that he already missed the older boy’s presence.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Jaehyun woke to the sound of Younghoon pounding on his door. He slowly rose to answer his roommate, vaguely remembering that he’d locked it last night. He opened the door to his friend, who immediately took in his state and pushed his way into the room. “What happened?” he asked, basically demanding answers. Jaehyun yawned, “What are you talking about?” Younghoon turned to him. “Last night. What happened last night? You came home and immediately came in here and locked the door. And now you look like shit.” Jaehyun blinked at his unfortunately observant roommate. He wasn’t about to tell his friend about what happened at the beach. He wasn’t about to tell his friend about his panic. He wasn’t about to tell his friend that he’d woken up four times in the middle of the night last night, remembering the encounter. He wasn’t about to tell his friend the truth. He wasn’t about to tell his friend he’d fallen in love. He couldn’t do that.

He decided , right then and there, that he was absolutely, one hundred percent,  _ not _ telling Younghoon anything. “Nothing happened,” he lied, “I was just really tired.” Younghoon narrowed his eyes at Jaehyun. “I don’t believe you.” Jaehyun threw up his hands, “Nothing happened!” Younghoon snorted, “Yeah right. You came home looking like shit, and you wouldn’t answer me when I asked you if you were okay. All you did was go out with Chanhee to look for souvenirs, so tell me, what the  _ Hell _ happened while you guys were out that made you come home looking that bad.” Jaehyun bit his lip, “Nothing. I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” he pushed his roommate out of the room. “Go get dressed, we’re meeting up with Changmin and Chanhee and we’re going to Kevin and Hyunjoon’s house.”

Jaehyun ignored his roommates questioning look and closed the door on the older’s face. He sighed, not sure of what he was going to do when he saw Hyunjoon. As he changed out of his clothes from the previous night, he could only pray that he wouldn’t do something he would regret. The two walked to Changmin and Chanhee’s condo in silence, one unwilling to speak, and the other unsure of what to say. Once the other two came out, they all walked together to Kevin and Hyunjoon’s house. Chanhee led with the directions that Kevin had given him (Jaehyun chose not to mention that he now knew the way). Chanhee explained to the couple about the gift for Sangyeon. Upon arriving there, they greeted Kevin, Hyunjoon, and Juyeon, who was already there. Jaehyun stayed in the doorway, not wanting to approach Hyunjoon. When they set off, Jaehyun opted to walk with Younghoon, trying his hardest to ignore Hyunjoon’s sad gaze on his back as he listened to Juyeon’s conversation with Younghoon and Changmin, which had something to do with places to visit on their trip.

As the group walked up to Sangyeon’s house, Kevin turned around and explained that Sangyeon would still be asleep, and that they had to go to his room quietly, so they could wake him up by all of them loudly yelling Happy Father’s Day at once. They quietly sneaked into the boy’s room, gathering in a circle around his bed. Kevin shushed them all while Hyunjoon took out a camera and took a picture of Sangyeon’s drool covered face. Then, Kevin counted to three on his fingers, and all at once they shouted “HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!” as loudly as possible, effectively waking up Sangyeon and causing him to jump at least three feet into the air. Sangyeon rubbed his eyes and blinked at the people standing around his bed. “What the fuck?” he said. “It’s Father’s Day, duh,” Kevin answered as if it were obvious, “Guess what, we got you a gift!” He handed the wrapped package to a still very confused Sangyeon and encouraged the older boy to open it. Sangyeon slowly tore off the paper and stared at it’s contents for a moment before looking back up at the group, “I hate anyone that helped pick this.” Kevin and Chanhee both burst out laughing, while Jaehyun smirked, and Hyunjoon hid behind Juyeon.

Sangyeon glared at the four. “What even is it?” Younghoon asked curiously. Sangyeon turned it so that everyone could see it, and Jaehyun, Changmin, and Juyeon also burst out laughing. Younghoon blinked at it once, then again for good measure. “That’s,” he started, “that’s very, um, interesting?” He then also burst out laughing, and poor Sangyeon looked at them all in distress. What was the gift, you ask? Well, it was a very large briefcase, and on the front, it read, “World’s Worst Dad”. Sangyeon looked ready to burn the thing. Hyunjoon, the only one not laughing his ass off, wandered over to the side of the bed, and Sangyeon watched the boy warily. Quiet little Hyunjoon pointed to the briefcase and mimed opening it. Sangyeon did just that, and groaned loudly. Hyunjoon reached into the open briefcase and pulled out a black t-shirt with the same words written across the front. He held it up for the others to see, and they all laughed harder. Sangyeon rubbed his forehead in frustration and disappointment. 

After several more minutes, the others finally calmed down enough to speak. Kevin smirked at Sangyeon. “You have to wear that all day Hyung!” Sangyeon glared at him. “I will  _ not _ . I have to take a gift for Minjun Hyung and I absolutely  _ refuse _ to let Sangmi see this  _ monstrosity _ or I will never live it down.” Juyeon noticed the confused looks on the faces of the four visitors and explained, “Sangmi is his sister, who’s roughly twice his age. Minjun is her husband. They have a son but I don’t know his name. Never met the kid, but he’s around Hyunjoon’s age, and I’m pretty sure Hyunjoon and Kevin have met him.” The four nodded in understanding and turned back to where Kevin was practically shoving the shirt onto Sangyeon by force. Hyunjoon stood to the side, watching with an emotionless expression.

In the end, they gave up trying to get the shirt on Sangyeon when he threatened not bringing them with him to visit his sister and her family. After he got dressed in something decent and grabbed a wrapped package, which was presumably for Minjun, they all squished into Sangyeon’s car, and drove to where Sangyeon’s sister, brother-in-law, and nephew lived, all the way across the city. Upon arriving, a boy roughly Hyunjoon’s age raced out and tackled Sangyeon into a hug. “Sangyeon Hyung!” he shouted. Chanhee tilted his head thoughtfully at the kid. “He gives me major Sunwoo vibes,” he said. Changmin, Younghoon, and Jaehyun all agreed. Sangyeon turned to them, “Guys, this is my nephew, Haknyeon.” They all greeted the boy.

Haknyeon turned to Hyunjoon, who was standing by the car, and ran over to the younger boy, engulfing him in a tight hug. “Hi Hyunjoonie!” he yelled. The younger looked more than mildly uncomfortable, and Jaehyun had to resist the urge to pull him out of the death hug. Instead he turned back to where a man and woman were walking out of the house. “Sangyeon,” the woman, Sangmi, called to her brother. They hugged and Sangyeon hugged the man with her, Minjun. After Sangyeon introduced them all, he handed the package to Minjun, and they all went into the large house. Jaehyun thought it was a bit over the top for only three people, but he decided not to judge. They went into the kitchen, where they had lunch. Haknyeon stuck to poor Hyunjoon like glue the entire time, which the quiet boy seemed less than enthusiastic about. Jaehyun tried to ignore the pang of jealousy he felt every time Haknyeon tackled Hyunjoon into another life threatening hug. He told himself just to ignore it.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Jaehyun sighed for the fifth time in the past two minutes, and Younghoon turned to him. “Alright, that’s it,” the older boy growled, “You’re either going to tell me what happened, or I’m going to find out myself, because I refuse to listen to you sigh one more fucking time.” Jaehyun glared at him, “Shut up, you flat-headed twat. I don’t care about your opinion.” Younghoon sighed, “Come on Jaehyun, I’m you’re best friend, you can tell me.” Jaehyun wrinkled his nose stubbornly. “You’re not my best friend,” he said, and Younghoon faked a hurt gasp, “Chanhee is my best friend, because  _ he _ doesn’t pry into my business.” Younghoon sighed, “It’s my job as your best friend to pry. If you keep it all bottled up it’ll only hurt worse.” He stood and as he walked past Jaehyun, he put a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “You know you can always talk to me if you need to. As your best friend, I’m here for you.”

  
  


* * *

  
  


In the following weeks, they spent a lot of time with their new friends. Even Haknyeon had tagged along quite a bit, the energetic boy easily getting along well with Sunwoo, and causing Hyunjoon great relief as he didn’t have the elder on top of him every two seconds. Jaehyun was still distant with him, but by now, Hyunjoon was used to the silence from the older. He still had no idea what he did wrong, but he figured that the older just didn’t like him all that much and was just being nice before. Which is why Hyunjoon was surprised when, while the group of twelve was at the beach, Jaehyun approached Hyunjoon where the quiet boy sat on a towel on the sand, still refusing to get in the water. Hyunjoon eyed the elder warily as Jaehyun sat down next to him, wondering why the elder was suddenly approaching him after ignoring him for so long. Jaehyun smiled at him, “Hello,” he greeted. Hyunjoon only nodded in greeting and he felt the older boy deflate beside him.

Hyunjoon gulped, trying to make his voice come out. He finally managed to choke out a quiet, “Why?” He could feel tears welling up in his eyes, and Jaehyun must’ve noticed, because his eyes widened in panic. “No, wait,” he said frantically, “Don’t cry! Why are you crying?” He engulfed the crying boy in a hug, not the deadly kind of hug like Haknyeon did, but a gentle, warm hug. Hyunjoon let him, quietly sobbing into the boy’s shoulder, trying his hardest not to draw attention to them. After a while, Jaehyun pulled back, and gently grabbing Hyunjoon’s face in his hands, he carefully wiped the boy’s tears. “Shh, it’s okay. Why are you crying?” Hyunjoon finally managed to speak, “I-it’s just t-that, y-you’ve been i-ignoring me, a-and I don’t k-know what I d-did.” Jaehyun looked away shamefully, “You didn’t do anything wrong, don’t think it was your fault. I just needed some time to myself to think. Don’t blame yourself, please. Promise me you won’t blame yourself?” He smiled softly at Hyunjoon, and the younger boy nodded slowly.

They both laid on the sand for a while, until they went over to where the others were gathered in a circle, most likely doing something they would regret. When they sat down in the circle, Juyeon explained to them that the group was currently playing Truth or Dare. Jaehyun and Hyunjoon both opted to simply watch and not join the game. They all watched as Sunwoo completed his dare of dunking all the way into the water, and he grumpily sat his soaking wet form back down next to Haknyeon, who was laughing hysterically. Sunwoo turned back to the circle. “Hmm, okay, Chanhee Hyung, Truth or Dare?” The boy didn’t hesitate, “Dare.” Sunwoo wiggled his eyebrows, “Feeling spicy are you now?” He thought for a moment, and opened his mouth to speak, when Haknyeon stopped him by whispering in his ear. Sunwoo blinked thoughtfully, before turning back to Chanhee grinning wickedly, Haknyeon copying him on his side. “Hyung,” Sunwoo singsonged evilly, “Give a kiss on the cheek to whomever you would most likely date.”

Chanhee stared at Sunwoo, barely processing his words. Finally, Chanhee blinked away the initial shock and managed to choke out the word, “What?” “You heard me Hyung,” Sunwoo laughed evilly. The others all watched a very very very red Chanhee as he slowly turned to his right, where Kevin sat, and gave the confused boy quick peck on the cheek. Hyunjoon couldn’t help but smile as his brother quickly turned a shade of red to rival Chanhee. The game proceeded for a while, and by the end, Hyunjoon could say without a doubt that he was very glad he had chosen not to play. The boys all headed back to Jacob’s condo for dinner. Hyunjoon noticed his brother walking far behind the others, while Chanhee was way at the front of the group. Neither had spoken to each other since Sunwoo’s dare. Hyunjoon fell back into step with his older brother, who glanced at him in distress.

Hyunjoon offered his brother a small smile, and the elder gladly returned it. Hyunjoon tipped his head at his brother, who somehow seemed to understand what Hyunjoon was asking, because he answered Hyunjoon’s silent question with, “I don’t know.” Hyunjoon frowned and nudged Kevin’s arm, pointing to the spot on his cheek where Chanhee had kissed him. Kevin sighed, “Yeah but, still. I mean, yeah, he chose me, but that doesn’t actually mean he  _ would _ date me. It just means he would date me before dating any of the others.” See, the brothers had always been able to communicate like this. Since Hyunjoon was always quiet, he’d learned very quickly how to speak to Kevin without actually speaking, and Kevin had just as quickly learned how to understand him. Therefore, they’d never had any problems when it came to communicating. And all their friends had quickly accepted that Hyunjoon wouldn’t speak to them, that he wouldn’t have a conversation, that he was silent. In fact, when they first met Juyeon, the boy had been thoroughly convinced that Hyunjoon was mute, but he’d eventually given up on that.

Hyunjoon glanced at his brother unamused. Kevin sighed, “Yeah, you’re right, I should just stop being a chicken and confess to him already. But I’m nervous, what if he says no?” One glare from Hyunjoon was enough to make Kevin sigh again, “Okay okay, but will you help me?” Hyunjoon smiled at his brother and nodded. They were the last to enter the house, and Kevin whispered something into Hyunjoon’s ear. Hyunjoon nodded and wandered off. When he found Chanhee, he tugged on the boy’s sleeve to get his attention, and when the older boy turned to him, he pointed out the back door, where Kevin was standing alone on the porch. Chanhee widened his eyes and shook his head. Hyunjoon tugged his sleeve again. “No, I can’t,” Chanhee said quietly. Hyunjoon frowned and tugged his sleeve again, but this time harder, practically dragging the older boy forward. Chanhee seemed surprised by Hyunjoon’s strength and sighed, clearly realizing he wouldn’t get out of this. He nodded slowly to Hyunjoon, and the boy hesitantly let go of his sleeve, watching carefully as he walked slowly out to the porch, closing the door behind him. Hyunjoon turned around and went to stand by Jaehyun, who had watched the exchange curiously. Hyunjoon smiled at the confused expression on the older boy’s face. Jaehyun chuckled and smiled back, that same soft smile that Hyunjoon had missed these past few weeks.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hyunjoon watched the back door anxiously, Jaehyun doing the same right next to him. Hyunjoon wasn’t entirely sure what would happen. He obviously knew that his brother liked Chanhee, and he  _ thought _ Chanhee also liked Kevin. Hyunjoon had a strike of panic. What if he was wrong, what if he’d misjudged everything, what if he just set up his own brother for embarrassment, what if-

The back door opened and Chanhee and Kevin both slipped in, going unnoticed by most of their friends. Except Hyunjoon and Jaehyun, who were watching diligently. Hyunjoon clutched Jaehyun’s sleeve, taking the older by surprise, when he saw that the two were holding hands. Jaehyun must have noticed too, because he audibly gasped. Hyunjoon tugged Jaehyun over to where the two stood, still drawing no attention from their other friends. The moment Chanhee saw the two of them, he blushed and hid his face in Kevin’s shoulder. Kevin also noticed them and smiled. When Hyunjoon and Jaehyun reached the pair, Chanhee pulled his reddened face back up to meet their eyes, he immediately turned even redder. Jaehyun smiled at them, “So?” Kevin smiled back, and looked at the shy little Chanhee, smiling at the other. Hyunjoon didn’t need his brother to answer to know that the two were now a couple. Jaehyun must have also picked up on it, and he loudly clapped, drawing the attention of their other friends at last. The others quickly filed around to see what was happening, and upon learning about the newly formed relationship, they all congratulated a very proud Kevin and a very embarrassed Chanhee. Jacob offered to treat them all to ice cream, to which they gladly accepted.

They sat on the beach finishing their ice cream, and Hyunjoon couldn’t be happier. He felt as though the recent events following their new friends showing up were ten times better than his normal summers. He was also very happy that Jaehyun was talking to him again. The older boy had quickly become one of Hyunjoon’s closest friends, though, the more he thought about it, the more wondered why. Why had he immediately felt like he could trust the older? Why did the older immediately become a presence in his life? Why did he feel so comfortable around Jaehyun? Was it because the older boy was so kind to him when no one else ever was? Or was it something else? And why, he asked himself so many times these past few weeks, had he missed the older boy so much when he’d stopped talking to Hyunjoon? He’d only known Jaehyun for a few days before that, so why? No matter how much Hyunjoon contemplated these thoughts all that night, he couldn’t find the answers, nor could he shake them out of his mind.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“If you keep that up for any longer you’ll wear a hole into the floor,” came the voice of Younghoon from Jaehyun’s bedroom doorway, and Jaehyun looked up from his endless pacing to see his roommate watching him with mild concern. “Ha ha, very funny,” Jaehyun answered, rolling his eyes. Younghoon walked in and sat down on Jaehyun’s bed, completely ignoring his friend’s annoyed look. “Seriously, what’s wrong, Jaehyun. I haven’t seen you this stressed since finals week. It’s summer! You’re supposed to be enjoying yourself.” Jaehyun sighed. “It’s nothing Hyung, I’m fine.” Younghoon snorted, “Bullshit. Tell me what happened or I’ll tell Jacob that something is wrong with you.” Jaehyun immediately stopped pacing and turned to face his friend. “You wouldn’t,” he hissed. “I would and I will. This isn’t healthy Jaehyun, and it sure as Hell is getting in the way of you enjoying your summer. So tell me. What. Happened.”

Jaehyun looked away from his roommate. He couldn’t. He couldn’t tell him. He heard his friend sigh in frustration. “Look,” Younghoon said, standing up and walking to the doorway, “You don’t have to tell me. But you have to talk to someone. I don’t care who. Just someone. Okay?” And with that, the older boy was gone, and Jaehyun was left to think to himself. When he thought about it, he really did need to talk to someone. He knew if he kept trying to keep his feelings to himself, eventually, something would happen. Something he absolutely did not want. But he also really didn’t want to talk to Younghoon. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the older, but he didn’t exactly think his roommate would understand, nor would he be of much help. Younghoon wasn’t exactly the most useful in terms of advice, no matter how much he always wanted to help. It was actually surprising. You would think that because he was in a relationship, he would be great at relationship advice, but nope. Jaehyun still remembered the last time he made the mistake of asking his friend about that. Never again.

Jaehyun sighed for the umpteenth time. He would have to ask one of his other friends for help. But which one? Sunwoo would just laugh at his situation, and Eric, though he tried to help whenever he could, was not the most experienced in terms of relationships. Jaehyun thought harder. He would ask Changmin, but he was pretty sure that the younger didn’t even know how relationships worked, despite being in one himself. He could ask Jacob, but the last time he asked Jacob for relationship advice, all he got in return was Jacob fangirling over the possibility of Jaehyun finally dating someone, and as useful as Jacob typically was when it came to giving advice for anything, Jaehyun really did not feel like listening to another two-hour lecture on how to stay safe. Which left him with only one option. Chanhee.

Jaehyun thought for a while, before finally deciding that talking to Chanhee about his feelings would be the best idea. He called his friend, requesting to meet him for lunch so he could ask him something, to which the younger gladly accepted, and Jaehyun left the house, ignoring Younghoon’s look of ‘bitch I’m watching you’. He arrived at the restaurant early and waited for Chanhee before ordering. When Chanhee arrived, the two ordered lunch and talked for a while, before finally Chanhee asked, “So what did you want to ask me?” Jaehyun sighed and explained his situation to his friend, while Chanhee listened quietly with a thoughtful expression on his face. “So my question for you is, what do I do?” Jaehyun finished, finally looking up at his friend. Chanhee was quiet for a while, contemplating what Jaehyun had just told him. Finally, he spoke up, “I think you should talk to Hyunjoon about how you feel.” Jaehyun panicked, “But, I can’t do that! He’ll never talk to me again!”

Chanhee sighed. “Hyung, the fact that he talks to you at all already, means that that is completely false. Obviously, you mean something more to him than the rest of us do, otherwise you probably wouldn’t even know what his voice sounds like. Clearly, he values your presence.” “Exactly,” Jaehyun said, “He values me,  _ as a friend _ . If he finds out that I’m in love with him, then he would just be creeped out by me. And I don’t want to ruin our friendship.” Chanhee sighed, “Well, the more you try to hold it in, the harder it’s going to get. I’m just saying, talk to him now, before the pressure gets to be too much.” The two finished lunch in silence, and Jaehyun paid for the meal, thanked Chanhee for trying to help, and decided to take a walk on the beach by himself while he thought over what his friend had said. He sighed. Should he really tell Hyunjoon? But wouldn’t that ruin the friendship they had? He didn’t want the boy to feel uncomfortable with him, knowing he was one of the few people that Hyunjoon was actually comfortable around, and probably the only one that Hyunjoon was comfortable talking to.

After a while, he looked up, and realized that he’d walked dangerously close to the cliffs at the end of the beach. He turned around, opting to head back to his condo. As he was walking, he checked his phone and saw that he had a notification. Opening it, he saw that Sangyeon had left a message on their group chat inviting the group to have a barbecue at his sister’s house, saying that they should bring swim shorts so they could swim in the pool, and a change of clothes for afterwards. Everyone else had already confirmed they were coming. Jaehyun texted a quick reply and rushed back to his condo to get ready. Younghoon was there, also getting ready. Sangyeon had told the group that they would have to take two cars to get there, as the house was too far away to walk. Sangyeon was going to take Juyeon, Kevin, Chanhee, and Hyunjoon in his car, and Jacob had offered to take Sunwoo, Eric, Changmin, Younghoon, and Jaehyun in his.

Jaehyun and Younghoon walked together to Jacob’s condo, where the others were all waiting outside. Sangyeon had sent Jacob the address and they set off. By the time they arrived, Sangyeon’s car was already there. As the car pulled up the driveway, Haknyeon ran around from the backyard and waved excitedly at them. When the car parked, Sunwoo ran out to meet him, and the pair ran back around the house to the backyard. The rest followed them. The moment Jaehyun saw the scene in front of him, he burst out laughing. Sangyeon’s brother-in-law was grilling food, while Sangyeon tried to stop Kevin from chasing Juyeon around the pool for dumping a bucket of water on him while he was relaxing. Sangyeon was yelling at them to stop running because they might slip. Chanhee was laughing his ass off from his chair. Hyunjoon was sitting on the edge of the pool by the shallow end with his feet dangling in the water, watching with what could pass for mild amusement. Through all of this, Sangyeon’s sister, Sangmi, was somehow fast asleep on a pool chair, clearly not being awoken by the commotion that the boys were causing.

As Jaehyun and the rest of his newly arrived friends watched, Haknyeon, who up until that point had been standing with them, made his way around the pool to the deep end, stood at the edge, and jumped, loudly shouting, “Cannonball!” and hitting the water harder than any of them would have thought, splashing water all over Sangyeon, Kevin and Juyeon, who had been running by, Chanhee, and his mother, effectively waking her up. Jaehyun could only laugh and shake his head at his disastrous friends. As Haknyeon resurfaced, he received glares from everyone who’d been affected, and he only grinned happily in return, apparently unaffected by their glares.

The night progressed normally. All the friends enjoyed themselves in the pool(save for Hyunjoon, who, Jaehyun noted, spent the entire time simply sitting on the edge of the pool with his feet in the water) and eventually they got out to eat. Eventually, it got dark, so Sangyeon ushered them all inside, and they apparently made the spontaneous decision that they would all spend the night. Sangmi and Minjun eventually went to bed, Sangmi telling her brother that they all had to clean before they went to bed. The friends messed around for a long time, before eventually deciding that it was getting late and that they should clean. They all split into pairs to clean, each pair taking a different area. Jaehyun and Hyunjoon were in charge of cleaning up all the pool toys from the pool and deck. As the two worked, they talked about what the group should do before Jaehyun and the others had to leave in a few days.

“So you really think we should go to the amusement park?” Jaehyun asked as he picked up the last few pool noodles from the ground by the shallow end of the pool and looked up at Hyunjoon, who was at the other end trying to reach a pool noodle where it sat in the water, just too far for him to be able to reach it. “But isn’t it expensive? I thought Juyeon said it would cost way too much.” Hyunjoon nodded, not taking his eyes off the pool noodle he was reaching for. “Normally it is, but they have a summer discount, so the tickets are a lot cheaper. Besides, it would be a perfect way for you guys to end your visit. It’s so much fun there.” Jaehyun nodded thoughtfully, “I’ll see if the others want to. What did you say the place was called again?” “Oh, it’s cal-”

Hyunjoon cut himself off with a yelp of surprise as he slipped and plunged into the water. Jaehyun looked up in surprise. It took him two seconds to realize what happened. It took him another two seconds to realize that Hyunjoon was not resurfacing. It took two more seconds to realize why: Hyunjoon couldn’t swim. That was why he hadn’t gone in the water earlier, or all the previous times at the beach. It took less than a second for Jaehyun to run around the edge of the pool near where the younger boy had been thrashing around in the water. Now, Jaehyun could see him struggling under the water, sinking lower and lower into the deep water. Without wasting any more time, Jaehyun dove into the water and swam down to where Hyunjoon had stopped struggling, wrapping his arms around the younger boy, and pulling him quickly to the surface. The moment they resurfaced, Jaehyun quickly pulled Hyunjoon to the edge of the pool and pushed him up onto the ground, quickly climbing out after.

By this time, the others were rushing outside, having heard the commotion, but Jaehyun paid them no attention, instead focusing entirely on Hyunjoon, who was crouched in front of him, coughing up water. He rubbed the younger boy’s back. In the back of his mind, he vaguely noticed Kevin crouch down next to him, looking at his little brother worriedly, he vaguely noticed someone place a towel on Hyunjoon’s back, and another on his own. He vaguely noticed the sound of his friends behind him, asking what happened, if they were okay. But he paid them no attention, the entire time his only focus being to make sure that Hyunjoon was alright. Eventually, the young boy stopped coughing and sat back on his heels, breathing heavily, staring at the concrete. Jaehyun and Kevin led the shivering boy inside and sat him down on the couch. Jaehyun explained to his friends, as well as Sangmi and Minjun, who’d been awakened by all the noise, what had happened.

After everyone calmed down, they all decided that that was enough excitement for one day, all choosing to retire to bed, Haknyeon showing them where they could all sleep. Eventually, the only people left were Jaehyun and Hyunjoon. The younger hadn’t looked at Jaehyun, or anyone for that matter, since what had happened. He simply stared blankly at the floor in front of him. Jaehyun sat down next to him. “Hey,” he said softly, “You okay?” Hyunjoon didn’t answer, just kept staring at the floor for a while, before he looked up, met Jaehyun’s eyes, and tears began to well up in his own. Jaehyun immediately wrapped his arms tightly around the younger boy, who sobbed into Jaehyun’s shoulder. After a while, Hyunjoon finally pulled back, and Jaehyun gently wiped the younger boy’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. Jaehyun shook his head, “Why are you apologizing? You don’t need to apologize for anything.”

For several moments, the pair sat in silence, before Hyunjoon spoke up again, “Th-thank you, f-for helping m-me.” Jaehyun smiled at him, “Of course.” There were several more moments of silence, this time being broken by Jaehyun, “So can you not swim?” He regretted this almost immediately when Hyunjoon looked down. For a second, he panicked internally, before Hyunjoon’s near inaudible reply echoed softly through the quiet room, “No, I can’t.” Jaehyun thought for a moment that the boy would cry again, but instead, Hyunjoon looked back up at him, and smiled a little. Jaehyun returned the smile. After that, they both laid down together on the couch, Jaehyun’s arms wrapped firmly around Hyunjoon, and they both fell asleep like that.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Jaehyun woke slowly, confused at first as to where he was, before he remembered the events of the night before, and realized that Hyunjoon was no longer laying with him. He got up and walked into the kitchen to find the younger boy sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. Hyunjoon looked up as Jaehyun walked in, smiling a bit before looking back down at the bowl. Nobody else appeared to be awake, and when Jaehyun looked at the clock, he understood why. It was only about 8 a.m. He sat down next to Hyunjoon and smiled at the boy. “Good morning,” he greeted softly, “why are you up so early?” Hyunjoon swallowed a mouthful of cereal and answered, “I always wake up early.” Jaehyun chuckled, “Really? I can’t even bring myself to get up after 2 in the afternoon. I am the opposite of a morning person.” Hyunjoon laughed a little at that. “So,” Jaehyun added, “Are you feeling better?” Hyunjoon nodded and smiled.

Jaehyun smiled back, “Good, because I wanted to take you somewhere today.” Hyunjoon widened his eyes in surprise. “Where?” he asked curiously. “You’ll see,” Jaehyun answered cheerfully. Hyunjoon tilted his head, “But what about the others? They’re still asleep.” “Well,” Jaehyun said, “looks like it’ll just be us then. What do you say?” Hyunjoon thought for a moment before nodding. After Hyunjoon finished his cereal and Jaehyun ate something himself, they both changed into the spare clothes they had brought, and they set out. After making sure Hyunjoon was comfortable taking the bus, Jaehyun led them onto the bus and they sat down together and started their journey to the unknown destination.

Upon getting off the bus, Hyunjoon gasped at where they were and looked at Jaehyun, “Are we really-” Jaehyun nodded in confirmation and smiled down at the surprised boy, before the two made their way up to the front gate of the amusement park. Once inside, Jaehyun asked Hyunjoon what he wanted to ride first. Hyunjoon thought for a moment, before excitedly pointing to a roller coaster near where they were standing. Jaehyun happily let the younger boy lead him to the line.

After several hours of riding rides, and having eaten lunch, the pair finally left the park, getting back on the bus to head back to where their condos were. As Jaehyun took out his phone to check his messages, he felt Hyunjoon’s head on his shoulder, and he smiled. He had left a note before they left the house to tell the others that they were leaving. He looked at his phone and saw a notification from Kevin, requesting that he bring Hyunjoon back home safely, and he typed a reply that they were on their way back. He placed his phone back in his pocket and looked down at Hyunjoon, who had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He smiled softly at the boy. Gosh, he was really in love with this kid. He couldn’t explain in that moment the urge he had to kiss the younger boy’s soft looking lips. He quickly got rid of the thoughts, turning his head away to look out the window.

When they reached their stop, Jaehyun woke Hyunjoon up and led the tired boy off the bus. They were several blocks away from Hyunjoon and Kevin’s condo, so they walked there together in comfortable silence. After saying goodbye to Hyunjoon as the younger went inside his house, Jaehyun walked to his own condo by himself. When he walked in, Younghoon looked up from his book and greeted Jaehyun, not even asking where he’d been. Jaehyun went to bed not long after, despite the fact that the sun was still setting. He was exhausted. He quickly fell into a peaceful sleep, happily remembering the events of his day.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Hyunjoon watched happily as his friends stood in the water, splashing each other cheerfully and yelling like little kids. He was currently sitting on the sand next to Jaehyun, who was sleeping peacefully, watching the rest of his friends enjoy themselves, as it was the last day they would all be together, before Jacob, Younghoon, Changmin, Chanhee, Sunwoo, Eric, and Jaehyun all had to return to Korea. It made Hyunjoon sad, thinking about how Jaehyun would be leaving. He didn’t want the older to leave. He would miss him too much. Thinking about it, Hyunjoon was brought back to the conversation he had with his brother when he got home last night.

_ “So,” Kevin asked as they ate dinner together, just the two of them alone together for the first time in a while, “where did you guys go today?” “The amusement park,” Hyunjoon answered. You might be surprised that he spoke, but he had no problem speaking to his brother when no one else was around. Kevin looked up at him in surprise, “Really?” Hyunjoon nodded and smiled, remembering how much fun he had with Jaehyun. Kevin was clearly surprised, though not disappointed. “Wow,” he said, sounding almost impressed, “he is a special one now isn’t he?” Hyunjoon looked at his brother in confusion and the older boy chuckled. “I mean, I could already tell you liked him, since you don’t talk to just anyone, but I didn’t realize you liked him  _ that _ much.” Hyunjoon was only more confused. “What do you mean?” he asked. _

_ For a moment Kevin was silent, before he finally said, “Seriously? I’ve seen how close you are. It’s obvious that you feel  _ something _ more than just friendship for him. You only talk to him, and you two are always around each other. You just went to the amusement park together, all day, just the two of you. Besides, I’ve seen the way you look at him, as if there’s no one else there, just him.” Kevin sighed at his brother’s blank stare. “Hyunjoonie, you like him.” Hyunjoon blinked at him for a moment, then “What?” Kevin sighed once again. “You. like. Jaehyun.” Hyunjoon just looked at him in confusion, “I mean, yeah, he’s my friend, of course I like him…” Kevin sighed for the umpteenth time. “No,” he said, trying to make his brother understand, “you like him as more than a friend.” At this point, Kevin kind of felt bad for his brother, who only looked more and more lost every second. He waited for Hyunjoon to process his words, and he saw his brother’s eyes slowly become wider and wider, until finally, the younger boy gasped, finally seeming to realize it. _

Thinking back to the conversation now, Hyunjoon couldn’t help but contemplate his brother’s words. Did he really like Jaehyun? The more he thought about it, the more he realized that his brother was probably on to something. He thought about how quickly he had warmed up to Jaehyun, about how comfortable he was around him, about how much he enjoyed just having the older boy near him. He thought about how happy he was the day before, when it was just him and Jaehyun, enjoying themselves, not worrying about anything. How thought about how sad he was when Jaehyun was ignoring him, and in turn he thought about how content he’d felt the other night, with Jaehyun’s arms wrapped firmly around him, protecting him. He thought about how much he enjoyed listening to the older boy talk about nothing, how much he enjoyed listening to Jaehyun’s (again,  _terrible_ mind you) jokes. About how much he liked just watching Jaehyun interacting with their friends. He looked down at the older’s face as he slept peacefully, unaware of their friends’ antics about fifty feet away. Hyunjoon realized with a jolt that his brother was wrong. So wrong. He didn’t like Jaehyun. He loved him.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Jaehyun opened his eyes to a cloudless blue sky, the sun sitting peacefully overhead. He sat up and looked at Hyunjoon next to him, and the younger looked back and smiled. Jaehyun smiled in return and yawned, looking out at the water, where their friends were casually trying to drown each other, which really should concern him, but since these are his friends we’re talking about, he wasn’t really worried. He kind of figured that later on he would probably regret dismissing the matter, but at the moment, he just turned back to Hyunjoon. “How long have I been asleep?” Hyunjoon checked the time on his phone, and answered, “About an hour.” Jaehyun hummed, he hadn’t realized he’d slept for that long.

He looked at Hyunjoon and asked if the younger wanted to go for a walk, to which Hyunjoon looked at him in surprise, and Jaehyun spotted a small blush on the boy’s cheeks, but brushed it off, figuring Hyunjoon was just warm. Hyunjoon nodded, and they both got up from the sand. Jaehyun looked at their friends. “Do you think we should tell them, or just go and see how long it takes them to realize we’re not here,” he wondered aloud. Hyunjoon snorted, “Don’t tell them, it’ll be funny to come back and see them in full panic mode only to find out that we’re fine.” Jaehyun laughed and agreed, and the pair set off down the beach together in comfortable silence. Eventually they reached a spot with no one else around, and they laid down on the sand together, looking up at the cloudless blue sky.

Jaehyun smiled, feeling content with the younger by his side, but his smile faded when realization hit him. Tomorrow, he would have to return to Korea, and leave Hyunjoon behind. He thought sadly about how he didn’t want to have to leave the boy, whom he loved. He sat up gloomily, surprising Hyunjoon, who sat up next to him. “What’s wrong?” he asked. Jaehyun sighed. “It’s just,” he started, not really sure how he would explain his sadness to the younger boy, “I really don’t want to go back to Korea. I mean, it’s not like it’s bad there, it’s just,” he sighed again, preparing himself for what he was going to say, “you won’t be there.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hyunjoon look at him in surprise, but he continued to stare out at the water, trying not to think about leaving Hyunjoon. Suddenly though, he felt Hyunjoon’s hand slide into his, and he looked up in surprise at the quiet boy, who smiled back sadly. “I don’t want you to go either,” he said, taking Jaehyun by surprise. They both looked back out at the water, and for several minutes, they sat like that in silence, hand in hand. In those minutes, Jaehyun thought. He thought about how, after leaving tomorrow, he might not see Hyunjoon again for a long time. He thought about how they might lose touch. He thought about, what if he didn’t come back next summer, when he’ll be graduated and he’ll have to get a job. He thought about how, what if he did come back, but Hyunjoon didn’t remember him. Jaehyun didn’t want that to happen, but what if it did? But what could he do to stop it from happening?

He realized that, if this was really the last time he might ever see Hyunjoon before going back to Korea tomorrow, then there was something he should do. “Hyunjoon,” he said hesitantly, breaking the peaceful silence. The younger looked at him. “Can I,” he said, “tell you something?” Hyunjoon nodded at him and waited quietly and attentively for Jaehyun to speak again. Jaehyun took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to say, and then, “I’m in love with you.” For a moment Hyunjoon just stared at him in silence, and Jaehyun turned away, looking once again at the water in front of him. “I’m telling you now because I’m leaving tomorrow, and once I go back to Korea, we might lose touch, and I might never get the chance to tell you, so I’m telling you now.”

Jaehyun waited in silence for Hyunjoon to say something, anything, but as seconds turned to minutes, Hyunjoon still didn’t speak, so Jaehyun looked back at the younger boy, only to find him already looking at him. Hyunjoon looked away, taking a deep breath, before quietly mumbling, “I-I think I-I’m in love with you too.” Jaehyun blinked at him, unsure if he’d heard the boy right. He must have misheard him, right? “What,” he said in surprise. Hyunjoon looked back up at him and said again, this time louder, “I’m in love with you too.” Jaehyun blinked again. “Really?” he asked, still surprised. Hyunjoon nodded. Jaehyun stared at him for several more seconds, before breaking into a smile, which Hyunjoon happily returned. They both laid back down on the sand, and Hyunjoon cuddled up to Jaehyun’s chest  They stayed like that for a long time, before deciding they should probably start heading back. They both sat up, but before Hyunjoon could get to his feet, Jaehyun stopped him. Hyunjoon looked at the older in confusion, but Jaehyun only smiled back before leaning in and closing the gap between them.

  
  


* * *

  
  


_ He’s kissing me _ . Hyunjoon could only sit still as he felt Jaehyun’s lips on his own. His mind was struggling to process this moment.  _ He’s kissing me. Wait, he’s KISSING ME OH MY GOSH _ . Hyunjoon suddenly pulled back, gasping in surprise. He blinked at Jaehyun. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, realizing he kind of ruined the moment, “I was just surprised.” Jaehyun smiled at him. “It’s fine,” the older reassured. Jaehyun slowly leaned in again, and this time, Hyunjoon was ready, closing his eyes. He felt the older’s lips on his own again, and he melted at the sensation. For several moments, they were lost in the moment together, before they broke apart. Jaehyun smiled down at the younger, and Hyunjoon smiled back up.

They ended up staying there on the sand for a while longer, before they finally got up and made the journey back to where their friends were, walking hand in hand. When they finally returned, neither were surprised to find their friends all sitting together in a circle on the sand, laughing, probably playing truth or dare again, and one hundred percent clueless to the fact that the pair had even left, let alone that they had just confessed their love for each other. Hyunjoon shook his head at his idiotic friends. The pair sat down in the circle, and, just as Hyunjoon had predicted, they were playing truth or dare again. Once again, they both opted to just watch, and they sat together watching their friends do stupid shit and laugh at each other, no one noticing that the entire time, the pair were still holding hands, as they laughed along with their friends, not paying attention to how the sun slowly lowered, the friends too happy to be together one last time this summer.

  
  


(1 year later)

  
  


Jaehyun waited anxiously as their plane slowly descended to the ground. He tried to listen to Chanhee’s advice, taking a deep breath to calm himself. He just wished the plane would land faster. He could tell that Chanhee, though he seemed calm, felt the same. They just wanted to get off the crowded plane and into the slightly less crowded American airport. They had both graduated two weeks ago and earned their degrees, Jaehyun’s in psychiatry, and Chanhee’s in teaching. They had spent those two weeks packing up whatever of their belongings they needed and stuffing them into suitcases, preparing for this flight. They’d made a decision together, before graduation, that they would come here. Why? Simple. They were here for two brothers, who’d made their way into the hearts of Chanhee and Jaehyun respectively.

That’s right. They were here for Kevin and Hyunjoon. They’d both found jobs in America, and they were going to live with the brothers. See, over the past year, they’d kept in touch with the two in America. Before leaving America the previous summer, Jaehyun and Hyunjoon had decided that they wouldn’t start dating then, as long distance relationships were hard, and that they would wait for each other. Jaehyun actually admired Chanhee and Kevin, who in fact, had decided to try a long distance relationship, and obviously, it had been working for them. But now that Jaehyun and Chanhee had graduated, they had no reason to stay in Korea. Sure, their other friends, as well as their families were there. But the people they loved were  _ here _ ,  in America, so that’s where they wanted to be.

Jaehyun actually knew that it would just be the four of them here. He’d heard from Hyunjoon several months into the school year that Juyeon had moved to L.A. to help his sister take care of her son and daughter after her husband died in a car crash. Then, about halfway through the year, Sangyeon had moved to Seoul with Sangmi, Minjun, and Haknyeon. Jaehyun knew this because since they had moved there, Haknyeon and Sunwoo had spent practically every moment together, being the little demons they were, never letting anyone get any peace. Jaehyun was pretty sure that everyone could tell that the two were in love,  _ except _ for Sunwoo and Haknyeon themselves. Jaehyun shook his head at the idiots, wondering how long it would take them to realize their feelings for each other. Whatever, they both had another year before they finished school, they could work out their feelings in that time, right? (No, no they could not, but Jaehyun was trying to be optimistic, so let him fucking live) So yes, the point is, Kevin and Hyunjoon were now alone in America. That is, until now.

Jaehyun let out a breath of relief as they got off the plane at last, Chanhee doing the same next to him. They both began looking around for the brothers, who were supposed to meet them there. The thing is, Jaehyun hadn’t actually told most of his friends about him and Hyunjoon. The night before they left for Korea, Jaehyun and Chanhee had roomed together, because Changmin and Younghoon wanted to spend the night together, and neither of the two boys wanted to be stuck with that all night. That night, Jaehyun had told Chanhee about him and Hyunjoon, and he knew that Hyunjoon most likely also told Kevin, but that was it. None of the others knew. It made it kind of funny to see his friends reactions two weeks ago when he and Chanhee told them they were going to America to live with the brothers.

Chanhee’s gasp brought him out of his memories, and he looked to see Kevin and Hyunjoon looking around on the other side of the terminal. They both waved to get the attention of the brothers as they walked towards the two. Eventually, they were spotted, and the brothers came to meet them. Next to Jaehyun, Chanhee and Kevin tightly embraced each other, but Jaehyun paid them no attention. He was looking at Hyunjoon as the younger came over to him, and Jaehyun wrapped his arms around Hyunjoon, the latter doing the same to him, neither wanting to let go. Eventually, they pulled apart, and Jaehyun placed a quick peck on Hyunjoon’s lips, the younger blushing, but still smiling. The group finally finished their reunion and made their way to the baggage claim, and then out to Kevin’s car, and they drove back to the brothers’ condo, all of them ready to start their new life together.

**Author's Note:**

> OH MY GOSH I FINALLY FINISHED IT I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD
> 
> So fun fact, the most excruciating part of writing this was the editing, which took me a whole damn hour, and left me wanting really badly to choke myself to death, mainly from cringing at my horrible writing, but also because I have literally the worst grammar and can't spell for shit, meaning that there were a LOT of things to correct(also ao3 doesn't recognize Korean names as words, meaning that all of their names had aggravating red squiggly lines under them the ENTIRE TIME I WAS EDITING AND IT WAS FRUSTRATING AS ALL HELL SO YOU KNOW WHAT FUCK YOU AO3).
> 
> So yeah, don't hate this too much. Thanks for reading.


End file.
